The government has once again turned its focus towards the betting industry in a bid to streamline and align it. Speaking during a meeting with betting stakeholders in Nairobi on Monday, Interior CS Fred Matiang’i said foreigners who don’t have the required work permits to be involved in the betting industry will be deported.
The CS said he is ready to sign the deportation letters so that those who are affected can leave the country, “If you come here and apply for a permit to do one thing and then you end up doing another, surely you are breaking the law and you don’t expect that we’ll be smiling with you and persuading you just because we want to be members of a respectable community of nations,” he said.
However, he said the Kenyan government is open to holding discussions with investors in the betting industry and that the stringent measures to streamline the sector are for the benefit of the country, “Those who are genuinely interested in investment, those who are genuinely making a contribution to our economy and country, you deserve and should get our commitment and support.”
He insisted that the country can’t be a like a market where people operate without rules and do whatever they please, “You also need to understand we have a country to protect and a country to develop,” said the CS.
He decried the effects of gambling on the youth, who have accrued debts just to ensure they take part. He said many of them borrow money in order to bet but paying the debts becomes a problem later.
